After Turkey's central bank pushed its benchmark lending rate to 40% last month, news agency AFP has cited local newspaper Hurriyet quoting the country's head of the bank saying she cannot affort a property in Istanbul hence has had to move back in with her parents.

Hafize Gaye Erkan, who took up her post in June after two decades in the United States with organisations including Goldman Sachs and First Republic Bank, said: "We haven't found a home in Istanbul. It's terribly expensive. We've moved in with my parents."

"Is it possible that Istanbul has gotten more expensive than Manhattan?"

Inflation hit a reported 61% in November. A cap of 25% on rent increases has led landlords to seek to get rid of tennants to bring in new ones at higher rents. The bank raised its key rate to 40% as part of measures to lower inflation.

Erkan is quoted in the newspaper saying: "We're nearing the end of our monetary tightening measures."